While reading “Ethical Decision making by Individuals in Organizations” by Thomas Jones, I learned that Jones believes the ethical issue itself is missing from most models for ethical decision making in organizations. Essentially, this means that the moral intense the ethical issue is, the more a person acts ethically. He introduces the idea of moral intensity which states that all situations sit on different levels. They vary from each situation and have about six different factors. Jones believes that moral intensity affects all different stages of ethical decision-making models.  

This article reminds me of my own experiences because I tend to weigh my decisions based on how intense I feel the situation is. Smaller ethical situations can take longer for me to notice than big and immediate ones. The intensity of the big ones makes it feel more urgent to react to. It also makes me feel like the impact will be bigger so I should weigh my decision more carefully. 

I believe a good example of this is climate change. I feel like this issue has been ignored for a long time and still is. This is because the effects of decisions related to this issue seem to be so far away. Thinking this way results in a worse outcome overall. 

Recently, I read an article for another class about the effect of smaller decisions. It mentioned how they are overlooked especially and businesses and can result in major loss. This article showed me the importance of thinking of the smaller choices which relate to moral intensity as well.   

Jones, Thomas M. Ethical Decision Making by Individuals in Organizations: An Issue-Contingent Model. Academy of Management Review, vol. 16, no. 2, 1991, pp. 366–395. “The more intense the moral issue, the more likely it is that decision makers will perceive its presence and respond with moral behavior” (p. 372).